It was left to me on Saturday to set off the washing machine and I happened to have my reading glasses on, which allowed me to notice that the gel balls I was using were suitable for a 30 degree wash. When I told my wife of this she said that washing at low temperatures is a bad idea because the detergents etc. don't properly dissolve and can end up clogging the outlet pipe.
Is there any truth in this?
Thanks
Edward
The only detergent we have ever dared to use at 30C was Ariel excel gel which worked just as good as our standard detergent if not better.
Scored very highly in the Which? test, according to Which? it was better than detergents at 40C too.
I've been washing at 35C using Persil Bio powder for over 20 years in the same machine, and nothing has clogged, and the powder dissolves pretty instantly.
I have occasionally used various Eco powders which other family members have bought, and universally found them to be useless, unless you like clothes to smell the same (or even worse in some cases) when they come out of the machine as they did when they went in. It might be that they work better in hot washes, but most of our washing doesn't need hot washes.
Instructions with my washing machine recommended 30 degree washes where possible for environmental/energy consumption reasons - but to do a high temp wash once in a while to kill off any bugs that may start to form.
wrote
My mrs tends to buy whichever reputable cleaner/powder that's on offer, so can't comment on specific powders but....
have had the gully block into which the washing machine discharges certainly recommend the fortnightly boil wash to try to keep internal pipework of machine and external waste piping clear if you do anything physical and sweat a lot (attending the local gym in my case), make sure the garments worn are included in the boil wash - these low temperature washes don't seem to touch the bacteria generated through body excretions (ugh) and "sweat shirts" end up well smelly.
Phil
Sort of. If you wash consistently at lower temperatures you can get bacterial growth in the waste pipes which can cause the build up of a black sludge which may eventually restrict or block the pipes completely. A lot depends upon the waste positioning and what else shares the same discharge pipe. The way of preventing it is to do a very hot wash about once a month.
I suspect it must be specific to the detergent, though? Here in the US people hardly ever run the machine* with warm water and don't get any problems.
Thanks to all respondents. We do a hot wash of towels and sheets so that would take care of that.
Edward
Wouldn't water hardness be a factor in this?
We use Asda own brand liquid bio wash. Currently on offer at 1.47 a litre. Seems to work well at 30C and doesn't make me itch.
Many washers don't seem to use the hot inlet (assuming yours has one!) for low temp washes - meaning all those gallons of gas generated hot water in the tank upstairs (okay, old tech!) - aren't used...
Consequently, it uses electricity to heat the cold water...
No idea which is more efficient though....
D
If the run from the HW cylinder is long, the machine takes in the cold water from that run and heats it; the hot water left in the pipe then goes cold.
A point to watch with hot fill is if it's from a combi boiler: the run to my machine is about 1.5m so, if the machine used hot water, the hose would be full of hot water, then the valve closes and the pressure rises in the hose. Most hoses seem to be rated at about 1.5 Bar at 60C and the closed pressure through a combi is much higher than this. (Miele hose will take much more than mains pressure at 60C).
Electric water heating in the machine costs about 3x as much per unit of heat as gas heating it. If water comes in at say 10C, then electrically heating it to 30C costs about the same as hot filling for a 70C wash. Thus, if you use gas CH, its generally cheapest to pick the lowest wash temp at which it will hot fill - if any.
Before people moan about more energy use, electricity generating station are typically 30s % upward efficient.
So it seems the modern trend for cold fills and lukewarm washes actually increases energy use for the majority of households, despite the marketing.
NT
Most machines are cold fill only these days, or can be adapted with a Y hose thingy. Its to do with the time taken for the hot to reach the machine. By the time its pushed the cold in the pipe through, the machine is full.
Not really. But when I do a high temp maintenance wash without the washing liquid, it looks like a normal wash which I guess is undisolved residue.
The only thing I've noticed is that the machine can start to smell a bit, well, 'manky' if I miss a high temp wash. Also I've seen black/brown mould coating the inside of the drum which should be killed off by a 60+ degree wash. I spoke to the manufacturer and they pointed out that the handbook for the machine say that a regular high temp wash must be done for that purpose. I checked - They were right; Who reads handbooks anyway ;-)
For my machine they also recommend a rinse program after tumble drying (it's a combination washer/tumbler). I used to ingnore this, and suffered the consequences of a bunged up condensor. Twice :-)
A final thought - I always run the hot tap next to the machine until it's hot before doing a hot wash, otherwise the machine sucks all of the cold water out of the hot feed and wastes time/power heating it (Dickenian plumbing).
Al.
I beleive one reason for this is that modern powders contain different ingredients which work best at different temperatures. So they may contain an enzyme which works best at 35 degrees but is inactivated at 45 degrees (just a ficticious example).
So they want to start with water that is at the bottom of the temperature range and heat it slowly to the desired temperature rather than start off with hot water.
We mainly wash @ 40 and the machine started smelling. I found the need for a high-temp wash to be a waste. We replaced the liquid detergent for powder (same brand ISTR) and never had a problem since. YMMV.
Kostas
I believe that protein-based stains (like blood, egg etc) need cold water to clean.
Kostas
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